England: Chasing Peter Rabbit

Unlike I've done in the past, I saved up all my vacation this year to use near the end of the year.  Little did I know when I planned it that way months and months ago that I would be in such desperate need of a long break come the end of October.  This glorious 12 day vacation to England was providential timing.  It might take me the next six weeks to get it all blogged!!!

I flew into Manchester, where I met up with Princess William, who relocated from New York City to Sheffield, England a little over two years ago.  Despite being so much closer to one another, this was our first time to connect since her move over the big pond.  We spent my arrival night at her house in Sheffield, and then headed out the next morning to the Lake District.

After living in the urban jungle, I was in great need of nature.  Green.  Quiet.  Sheep.  The Lake District seemed to be the perfect location for that, and it did not disappoint.  It's my new favorite.  (Sorry Switzerland.)

We went directly to the Beatrix Potter house to catch it before closing.  The movie, Miss Potter, is what made me interested in the Lake District in the first place.  And I do love children's literature.  Here's her house:

We couldn't take pictures inside.  It was interesting, especially the hole in the floor in one bedroom that inspired one of her stories.  They had copies of her books all over the house that were marked to certain pages that had to do with the room.  

We were hoping this was Mr. McGregor's garden, but the guide explained that it was a bit further off. This was actually Jemima Puddle-Duck's garden.

This is the gate from The Tale of Tom Kitten.

The mailbox from Peter Rabbit's Almanac.

The Tower Bank Arms Pub, from The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck (and where I had dinner the following night).

And from The Tale of Ginger and Pickles (or...just a pretty house):

Looking out from Hill Top, there were green hills and sheep galore.  It's no wonder Beatrix Potter loved it there.  I sure would.

Baa baa black sheep!

We drove over to our bed and breakfast, called Howe Farm, in Hawkshead, which is on a working farm.  You can see the house there...and no other houses.  No city.  No town.  Just country.  Absolutely perfect.  There was a living room for the guests, with a fireplace, which made Princess William do the happy dance.

There were sheep who knit.

There were tea and biscuits.  It was just glorious.

This was the view from our bay window seat:

We had about an hour before the sun would fully go down, so we decided to go wander around the hills on the public trails a bit.  We took flashlights, or as the Brits called them, 'torches,' with us, and it turns out a good thing we did!

There were sheep everywhere.  This black faced sheep was not popular with his buddies, who head butted him until he wandered off on his own.  Pour guy.

The view of the lake down below.

As we climbed higher, we lost sight of the lake.  And eventually, the house.  And eventually...the trail.

(These next two photos I took the next morning, but imagine them in the dark, with no city lights, and no moonlight because of the cloud cover.  Our 'torches' only lit the ground directly in front of us...it was pretty dark out there!)

Because of earlier rain, it was pretty muddy and we lost the trail of the public path.  We knew we needed to be heading back down to the house before it grew too terribly dark, and so we just started heading down.  Eventually, we came to the stone wall you see going across the middle of the photo here:

We had two choices: to go over the glass-shard topped wall and run across the field in front of it to the gate we could see in the distance that opened to the road, which led back to the house.  Or, follow the stone wall in the direction of the house and hope for a gate at the end of it.  Princess William spotted something, though: a hole in the wall.  (If you click on the photo, you might be able to see the hole in the middle of the stone wall at the foot of it by the ground).  She shimmied her way right through it.

I, however, am...well, let's just say slightly larger than Princess William.  I was sure I was going to get my hips and big ole ghetto booty stuck in that wall.  That was not exactly how I wanted to start my vacation.  There was no going over the wall, though.  As I slipped my way through that hole and pushed my hips with all my might through, I kept thinking of Peter Rabbit getting stuck in the gooseberry net and losing his jacket.  Naughty Peter Rabbit.  Naughty me, climbing through somebody's wall into their field.

We got through the wall, across the field, and climbed over the gate just like you would expect from two girls from Alabama.  Once we got back to the B&B, we were taking our muddy shoes off outside when I saw the empty milk jars outside with a note in them for the milkman.  That made me love this place all the more.

Unlike Peter, we were not sent to bed without dinner.  Instead, we went to Ambleside and parked by this lovely church:

And ate dinner at an awesome pub.  I had Yorkshire Pudding with local sausage and peas in it.  So yum.

The next morning, I woke to this:

I sat in the bay window and watched the sun rise behind that hill and light up the lake below.  Then, all of a sudden, there were cows directly beneath my window!  One of them even poked her head in the entry way of the front door.  They were headed up to the stables.  So awesome.

If you're ever in the Lake District, I highly recommend Howe Farm as a place to stay.  I might dare say it's the best B&B I've ever stayed at.  The food was delicious.  The rooms were dreamily comfortable.  You get your own private bathroom.  The fireplace in the sitting room is perfect.  The location is so peaceful and tranquil.  Green pastures and still waters.  I really think I could have stayed there for days on end, a month even, and been quite content.